Method of fitting dentures



Aug. 3, 1954 Filed Aug. 19, 1950 B- N. GREENE ETAL METHOD OF FITTINGDENTURES 2 Sheets-$heet l I INVENTORSI 4 fie); 4111172 If fines):

7 badore @Jtfillfi) fly $10 I Aug. 3, 1954 B. N. GREENE ETAL 2,685,133

METHOD OF FITTING DENTURES Filed Aug. 19, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 |E llINVENTORS Patented Aug. 3, 1954 2,685,133 METHOD OF FITTING DENTURESBenjamin N. Greene and Theodore Wichner,

Miami Beach, Fla., assignors of one-third to Billy Abrin, Miami Beach,Fla.

Application August 19, 1950, Serial No. 180,324

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to the manufacture, sale and fitting ofartificial dentures, and more particularly to dentures adaptable forhome fitting.

There are thousands of people without their natural teeth who, foreconomic reasons, living in remote regions, or because of old age andinfirmity, are unable to obtain the services of professional dentistry,and it is the main object of our invention to make it possible for thesepeople not only to provide themselves with perfectly fitting denturesbut to do so for a very nominal cost.

Other objects of the invention are to provide prefabricated full mouthdentures in standard sizes; to make provision whereby a person mayaccurately determine the sizes of plates he or she will require; toprovide instructions which are simple and readily understandable by theordinary layman as to the self fitting of the dentures and, in thismanner, to make it both possible and practical to sell artificial teethin stores like any other commodity and with a guarantee of entiresatisfaction.

In professional dentistry, when making dentures, the first step is totaken an impression of the patients gums, after which many otheroperations are performed before the work is completed. In the instantinvention, making the impression is the final step and may beself-performed in the home, the only other operation necessitated beingthe predetermination of the size of dentures to purchase by the use ofnovel measuring or sizing means. And it is a further object of theinvention to thus simplify the method of providing and fittingartificial dentures over the prior art and professional methods, and yetobtain equally satisfying results.

To these ends the invention consists in the provision of prefabricateddentures in standard sizes, means for the self-determination as to thesize or sizes of said dentures required, accordingly as a person is tohave an upper, a lower or a complete set of dentures, and also providingmaterial for and instructions as to fitting the dentures as will befully set forth in the following description and particularly defined inthe appended claim.

The accompanying drawings illustrating the invention are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration in outline of a plurality of upperand lower ridge forms which are employed as the means for predeterminingthe size of homefit dentures a person requires.

2 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an upper ridge form.

Fig. 3 shows one of the lower ridge forms partly in side elevation andpartly in vertical central section, the scale of this view being smallerthan that to which the upper ridge form is drawn in Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views of upper and lower ridgeforms, respectively, the ridge forms being shown as placed on gum ridgesfor trial fitting.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an upper denture before application oflining material thereto.

Fig. 7 shows in side elevation a lower denture before lining.

Figs. 8 and 9 are transverse sectional views through a pair of upper andlower dentures, respectively, after application of the liner materialbut before impressions have been taken therein.

Fig. 10 is a human portrait, purely fanciful, showing the median facialline by which the lower denture is centered on the jaw.

Figs. 11 and 12 show, in side and front elevations, respectively, therelative positions of a set of dentures when in the mouth, Fig. 11 alsoshowing the normal position of the lower lip relative to the lowerdenture, while in Fig. 12 the median line of the dentures is indicated.

It will be understood that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration only and are not drawn to any particular scale orexactitude in the tooth settings.

In the drawings similar reference numerals refer to similar partsthroughout the several views.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there are shown two fitting or ridge forms 4 and 5,respectively, the term ridge form being used more because of thestructural design than for their intended use. These ridge forms :3 and5 are inexpensively made, preferably of a molded plastic such ascelluloid or the like, and are shaped substantially as shown so as to beplaced in the oral cavity. The ridge form 4 has an upwardly openingrecess 6. for receiving the ridge formed on the receded gum of the upperjaw, the inner wall of this recess being continuous to form a centralpalatal portion 1 which is conformed substantially to and adapted to liein slightly spaced relation to the hard palate. The ridge form 5 isformed to provide a downwardly opening recess 8 which permits the ridgeform to be placed on the ridge formed by the lower jaw, the ridges onthe upper and lower jaws being indicated by numerals 9 and i0,respectively, in Figs. 4 and 5.

From practical experience it has been ascertained that the resemblanceof the jaws, as to contour and size, is so nearly alike in all peoplethat the jaws of fully 98% of persons requiring dentures will fallwithin the range of three standard sizes of ridge forms such ashereinabove described.

The ridge forms are ably on the gum ridges supposed to fit comfort- 9and IE! but not snugly. In fact there should be clearance all around soas to allow a certain freedom of movement of the ridge forms bothlaterally and longitudinally in the mouth.

To the end that a predetermination may be made as to the size ofdentures to be purchased, the prospective user is first furnished with apackaged set of sizing or testing ridge forms which includes threeuppers and three lowers. These ridge forms, the upper 4 and lower 5,vary in size, the three sizes being standard, and are illustrated indiagrammatic outline in Fig. l and in which the uppers 4 are designatedl-U, 2-U and 3-U, while the lowers 5 have the designation l-L, 2-1. and3-L.

The ridge-forms are all tried for size, uppers and lowers separately,and preferably while looking in a mirror; the fitting to allow forclearance as above stated. It may be that l-U and l-L will be the onesthat fit best, or it may be any combination such as lU and 3L, or 2-Uand i-L. When a selection has been made the combination is reported backto the store and the purchaser receives a set of prefabricated denturescorrespondingly numbered, these dentures being illustrated in Figs. 6and 7 and in which the upper denture is indicated generally by thenumeral i l and the lower by numeral 12. Also supplied with the denturesis a tube or other container, not shown, of an impressionablethermosetting plastic material that will harden in the heat of themouth, together with instructions as to fitting the dentures, and suchminor implements as may be used in removing excess liner material fromthe outside of the dentures after impressions have been made.

The upper denture H includes the plate l3 of plastic material and thelower denture includes a plastic plate It, each plate having itsrespective tooth facings i5 and 16. The plates 13 and I4 match theircounterpart trays 4 and 5 and in fact are formed on the same oridentical molds.

Fitting the dentures Before attempting to fit the dentures, the persondoing the self-fitting stands or sits before a mirror and with a pencildraws a line, indicated at H in Fig. 10, straight down from the middleof the nose and continued over the upper and lower lips. This representsthe center or median line of the face. The lower denture I2 is fittedfirst, the successive steps being as follows:

Lining material, shown at i8a in Fig. 9, is spread over the iner surfaceof the plate member M of the denture to a depth of about /8". Thedenture is then placed over the lower gum and pressed down until the topedge of the teeth H5 is even with the top of the lower lip, the latterbeing indicated at 19 in Fig. 11. This produces an impression of the gumin the moldable liner l8a. It is essential that the teeth (8 liedirectly over the crest on top of the ridge it] or slightly inside theridge, but never on the outside. This position is critical. It is alsoof importance that, when exerting pressure to make the impression, theplate [4 must be kept level or, in other words, it must not be tippedsidewise or forward or back. And, care must also be exercised so thatthe center of the denture is directly aligned with the facial mark I1.As a check on proper centering it is suggested that the upper denture llbe placed in the mouth prior to lining to see that there is a truealignment of the centers of the upper and lower teeth with the guideline H, see Fig. 12.

It is best that a lapse of about thirty minutes be allowed between thesetting of first the lower and then the upper denture. Then, with placel3 of the upper denture thoroughly dry, the liner, shown at l8 for theupper plate is applied over both the recessed and palatal portions inthe same manner as described with reference to the lower plate It. Afterthis the lined denture is placed on the upper gum and again properlycentered in the manner above stated, but brought forward, as in Fig. 11,so that the upper front teeth l5 slightly overlap the lower front teethHi, this being the correct position of natural teeth. Holding the upperdenture in place with the fingers, the next step is to close the jaws,thus biting the teeth together until the lips meet in the normal closingof the mouth. Following this the next thing to do is to open the mouthto see if the teeth have contact all around and to further check as toproper centering. If off center, a correction should be made by movingthe misaligned denture to one side or the other.

Thereafter the mouth should be opened and closed and the bite repeateduntil the jaws feel comfortable. This movement deepens the impressionsin the linings l8 and Mic. The fitting is now completed, but thedentures should be left in the mouth a sufficient length of time, aboutan hour, before removing them to trim off excess material [8 and I80.which may be done from the outside of the dentures but never from theinside. First removal of the dentures should be by gripping the teeth !5and iii in order not to displace or injure the lining which will remainsomewhat pliable for about twenty-four hours, after which the denturesmay be handled safely.

Regarding the prefabrication of upper and lower dentures H and [2 it maybe further stated that the teeth position will be according to standardsetting in all instances. To the end, however, of preventing improperarticulation due to the size selection of upper and lower dentures, aperson may have made, or slight misalignment of dentures, it is proposedthat the posterior teeth will have flat cusps. The use of flat orinverted cusp teeth will take care of the occlusion similarly to theocclusion of natural teeth in the mouth and will assure contact of allsixteen posterior teeth, eight upper and eight lower.

The flat cusps of the posterior teeth permit use of different sizeuppers and lowers, as will sometimes occur. Since it is important thatthe teeth themselves are positioned directly over the ridge of the gumsas pointed out above, obviously the teeth in the i-L denture will be setin a slightly larger arc to the teeth in the 3-U denture. Nevertheless,because of the flat cusps of the posterior teeth, a satisfactoryocclusion will be obtained even in the unlikely case that a person wouldrequire the l-L and 3-U dentures.

Thus our invention is based on the discovery that about 98% of peoplehave dental and jaw structures such that three standard sizes, varyingonly slightly from each other, combined with corresponding dentureshaving flat cusp posterior teeth will give satisfactory false teeth infull sets.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the invention provides forthe fabrication of artificial dentures prior to taking an impression ofthe gums, means have also been provided whereby a person may determinethe size of a plate or plates he or she will need, that the dentures hepurchased like any other article of manufacture and self-fitted in thehome, that the impression of t e gums is made by the user and is thefinal operation, and that as a result of the invention the possession ofdentures will have been made possible for many persons in need but whowould otherwise have to go Without them.

What we claim is:

The method of fitting artificial dentures, comprising the steps ofinserting in sequence into the mouth and embracing the gums a pluralityof difierent presized upper and lower ridge forms until a single upperand a single lower ridge form correctly fitting the upper and lowergums,

respectively, is

obtained, lining a. pair of preformed artificial dentures whose ridgeforms correspond in size to the correctly fitting ridge forms with animpressionable thermosetting bonding tures from the t for said gums.

denture mouth, thereby effecting a true References Cited in the file ofthis patent Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Morgan Oct. 13, 1936Morgan Apr. 12, 1949 Pink Feb. 7, 1950 Dickson Apr. 17, 1951

